Message for the Sick

Foremost among them, Ayyūb (as)Prophet Ayyūb (Job), renowned for his unwavering patience, steadfast faith, and perseverance through severe trials and illness., and then the prophets, the awliyā(sing. walī) Those who seek the pleasure of Allah and attain elevated spiritual ranks through worship, obedience, and sincerity., and the righteous regarded the illnesses they suffered as a form of pure worship and as a gift from Allah the Most Merciful, and they endured them with patience and gratitude. They saw them as a surgical operation arising from the mercy of the Compassionate Creator.

O lamenting sick person! If you wish to join this luminous group, remain patient and show gratitude. If you complain, they will not accept you into their company. You will fall into the pits of the heedless and set out upon a road full of darkness.

Indeed, there are certain illnesses through which, if they result in death, one may attain a spiritual rank similar to that of a shahīdMartyrs who die for their faith and for the sake of Allah. For example, one who dies from an illness related to childbirth,^[1] abdominal pain, drowning, burning, or plague attains the spiritual rank of a shahīdMartyrs who die for their faith and for the sake of Allah. Likewise, there are many blessed illnesses that grant the rank of an awliyā(sing. walī) Those who seek the pleasure of Allah and attain elevated spiritual ranks through worship, obedience, and sincerity. when they result in death.

Moreover, illness lessens love for and attachment to the world. It makes separation from the world, which is deeply painful and bitter for worldly-minded people, bearable and sometimes even beloved.

The Sixteenth Remedy

O sick person who complains about the burden of illness! Illness brings about respect and compassion, which are among the most essential and most pleasant aspects of human social life. For illness saves a person from self-sufficiency, which makes him unsociable and unkind.

Indeed, according to the secret of the verses:

اِنَّ الْاِنْسَانَ لَيَطْغٰى ۞ اَنْ رَاٰهُ اسْتَغْنٰىSurely man oversteps all bounds when he deems himself self-sufficient. – The Quran 96:6-7

the nafs-i ammāraThe aspect of the soul associated with lower desires and negative traits. of a person who regards himself as self-sufficient because of health and well-being does not feel respect for many bonds of brotherhood that deserve respect. Such a person feels no compassion for those afflicted by calamity and illness, though they deserve compassion and care.

But when he himself becomes ill, he recognises through that illness his helplessness and neediness. He shows respect to his brothers who deserve it, and he feels reverence toward his believing brothers who visit him or help him. Through the shafqaCompassionate and unconditional love, such as a mother's love for her child. that arises from fellow-feeling, and through compassion for the afflicted—which is among the most important Islamic virtues—he compares their condition with his own. In this way, he can feel full compassion and shafqaCompassionate and unconditional love, such as a mother's love for her child. for them and do whatever he can to help them. At the very least, he can pray for them or visit them to ask after their condition, which is found in the sunnahThe sayings, actions, and approvals of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) that serve as a model for Muslims. of the Prophet (saw)Sallallāhu alayhi wa sallam (Peace and blessings be upon him), and thereby receive thawābThe rewards granted in the Hereafter for deeds performed in pursuit of Allah’s pleasure and acceptance..

The Seventeenth Remedy

O sick person who complains that he cannot perform good deeds because of his illness! Be grateful. Your illness opens for you the door to the purest good deeds. In addition to continually earning sewāb for both the sick person and those who care for him for the sake of Allah, illness is one of the most important means for the acceptance of supplication.